See Yourself As A Child Of God

Reflect on God’s Word

Kids whose parents show them love continually might not return the favor. They can disregard their parents’ advice or lie to hide things from them. Some even shut out their parents altogether because of past disagreements and grudges. Other children receive love from their parents and learn how to show love themselves.

We can go either way as children of God.

John 1:12 tells us, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

By God’s grace, you have become a child of God. You have been adopted into his family. Being God’s child is your highest calling. It gives you your purpose. Everything you do represents your heavenly Father. But just as some children may struggle with trusting their earthly parents, many people hold back from fully living as God’s children.

Try saying out loud, “I am a child of God.” Remind yourself that your Father in heaven has adopted you forever. The Holy Spirit lives in you to make you into his child.

Galatians 3:26 says: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” We have the full rights and privileges of the heirs of God.

So what are those rights and privileges?

You have the privilege of being a peacemaker. In Matthew 5:9 Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Romans 12:18 tells us, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” As a child of God, you can bridge the gap when people are arguing with one another. You know the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and your job is to introduce him to everyone who will listen. Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”

You have the privilege of being led by the Spirit of God. Romans 8:14 says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”

When Jesus was talking to the people about what it would be like to acknowledge him before men, he said, “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:11–12).

When Jesus told his disciples that he would be leaving them, they were confused and despairing. But Jesus told them, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16–17).

You have the very Spirit of the living God within you to lead you and guide you into all truth.

You have the privilege of sharing in Christ’s glory as you share in his suffering. Romans 8:16–18 says, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

As a child of God, you will inherit eternal life with Jesus. He has gone to prepare that place in glory for you (John 14:2).

You have the privilege of being clothed with Christ. Galatians 3:26–27 tells us, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

All the qualities that Christ possessed—humility, gentleness, patience, goodness, and much more—are now covering you. Jesus is your garment. He protects you, he displays his glory through you, and he covers you in peace.

You have the privilege of being a minister of reconciliation. Second Corinthians 5:18–20 says, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

Just as you were brought into God’s kingdom, you have the right and the privilege of helping others see that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for their sins so they could be reconciled to God.

Have you fully embraced your identity as a child of God? Is that the first thing that comes to mind when you think about who you are? Find some time today to meditate on the verses above and ask God to make them a part of your self-identity.

Release Who You Thought You Were

Take a deep breath or two. If tears hover, let them come. Picture a child who has lived as an orphan or within an abusive family, but who now stands before a judge to become a full-fledged member, a beloved child, of a forever family.

Adoption is not something anyone takes lightly. Especially God. When he says that you are now his child through faith and by the blood of Jesus, then that’s what you are, forever. Nothing you can ever do or say can separate you from his love.

Hold out your hand to symbolize taking the hand of your heavenly Father. When insecurity and the wounds of your past seek to wrench your hand out of his, remember that the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Nothing can snatch you out of God’s hands.

There’s an old classic Disney movie called The Apple Dumpling Gang. Three orphans in the Old West are sent to live with an unknown uncle after their parents pass away. When they arrive, the uncle is nowhere to be found, but there is a ramshackle cabin that apparently used to be his. They are poorer than poor until they discover a huge gold nugget in a mine that belonged to their father, and, by virtue of being his children, that nugget now belongs to them.

A man and his new wife who have been taking care of the children and fallen in love with them file papers to adopt the children. But before papers can be signed, would-be parents come out of the woodwork. Spoiler alert: All of them prove false, and the children go home with the ones who truly love them.^*

Don’t let Satan tell you that you belong to anyone else but your heavenly Father. You were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), and you belong to his family forever.

Father, being your child is almost too much for me to understand. Help me grasp fully that you have adopted me. You have set me free from my bondage to sin. Let me live free as your beloved child so your love will overflow from me into those around me. Just as you sent your Son into the world, so send me into the world, in the power of your Holy Spirit, as a minister of reconciliation and an ambassador for your kingdom. What a privilege that is! It’s in the precious name of Jesus that I pray, amen.

JOURNAL PROMPT: Make three lists. Who does the world say you are? Who do you say you are? Who does God say you are?